38 hurt in J&K ammo depot fire

SRINAGAR: At least 38 people, including 20 soldiers, 14 civilians and four firemen, were injured in a fire that engulfed the Army’s Khundroo Field Ordnance Depot in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday.

Though several terror outfits including Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen and Hizbul Mujahideen promptly claimed responsibility for the incident, the Army maintained that it was an accident caused, probably, due to mishandling of ammunition.

‘‘We will conduct an inquiry into the incident, but it is quite clear that it was an accident. With the assistance of the fire services department, we doused the flames after a five-hour operation,’’ Army spokesperson Lt Col A K Mathur told TOI.

He said soldiers injured in the incident were shifted, in choppers, to base hospital in Srinagar, and that the stores which house sophisticated and latest weapons were safe. Police evacuated more than 20,000 people from Somrun, Nowgam, Sandru, Wakil Balan and Khundroo villages located within depot’s five-km radius, a police spokesman said.

Army also evacuated its personnel and their family members in several bulletproof vehicles.Reports said even when fire was brought under control, explosions were heard for more than five hours, triggering widespread panic.Shells and splinters, flying over an area within five-km radius, injured as many as 14 civilians.